Yeah, I don't think I'm spoiling anything here, but you really feel for the guy when he finally retires from the Marines because you know how much he loves the Corps. He never wanted to leave. And damn, what does it take to crawl literally 18 inches an hour for almost four days, over 1200 yards to make one shot, and then crawl out of there with everyone looking for you. I just don't know how anyone could do it.

That's it! I've got to read this book.

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Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

I saw one yesterday on PJ's in Afganistan in the book store. Troynos might be interested to read that one. There were a few books on Marine Snipers in Iraq. Those looked pretty interesting. I tend to enjoy the books that are written by the guys who were in the service, rather than the books written by the Journalists about the service. It's true that sometimes the writing by the servicemen isn't as good as the journalists, but I think that their experience adds a lot to the story. There was also a book on British Army Snipers in Iraq that looked really interesting.

Yeah, I glanced at some PJ books. These guys are put to the test. The training looks excruciating! I'm wondering, though, how much of their rescue training prepares them for combat engagements. You know, like someone needs pulled out of a hairy situation and these guys come in to get em, but the shit hits the fan and they have to defend themselves. From what I glanced at, the impression I get is that they are just hardcore rescue guys, not figthers, but I'm not sure if this is an accurate impression.

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"We make a stand now or there will be nobody left to go to the choppa!" --Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer

Yeah, I glanced at some PJ books. These guys are put to the test. The training looks excruciating! I'm wondering, though, how much of their rescue training prepares them for combat engagements. You know, like someone needs pulled out of a hairy situation and these guys come in to get em, but the shit hits the fan and they have to defend themselves. From what I glanced at, the impression I get is that they are just hardcore rescue guys, not fighters, but I'm not sure if this is an accurate impression.

I don't know a whole lot about it )may be I'll know more after I read the book) but I once saw a documentary on their training. It wasn't anything crazy, just a special on the Discovery Channel or something. But it showed their training and they go through this "pipeline" system where they're sent to all these different military schools for like two years, one right after another. Ranger school is one of the courses they have to attend. So I guess they would have had a pretty decent level of combat training in Ranger School, but beyond Ranger School, I'm not sure.

However, I was under the impression that they also did some Hostage Rescue missions and extracted downed pilots and stuff. They may have some combat/CQB training.

I think they train a lot with the USAF Combat Control Teams. Those guys do long range stuff to set up landing strips and so forth. They do some Recon... I don't know if they have much combat capability either.

__________________
Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

2 years of training. 3 weeks at Airborne Infantry School at Fort Benning. 6 weeks of Air Force Combat Diver training. The majority is obviously EMT and EMS training, but there seems to be plenty of combat training. Maybe not the "how to kill" kind of stuff, but more of the "how to survive" and "how to get in and get out" kind of stuff.

I don't know a whole lot about it )may be I'll know more after I read the book) but I once saw a documentary on their training. It wasn't anything crazy, just a special on the Discovery Channel or something. But it showed their training and they go through this "pipeline" system where they're sent to all these different military schools for like two years, one right after another. Ranger school is one of the courses they have to attend. So I guess they would have had a pretty decent level of combat training in Ranger School, but beyond Ranger School, I'm not sure.

However, I was under the impression that they also did some Hostage Rescue missions and extracted downed pilots and stuff. They may have some combat/CQB training.

I think they train a lot with the USAF Combat Control Teams. Those guys do long range stuff to set up landing strips and so forth. They do some Recon... I don't know if they have much combat capability either.

Yeah, these guys go through some lengthy training and if you wanted a guy saving your ass, you'd probably want one of them doing it. They seem pretty versatile and well-rounded. People like to argue about which units are the best. Delta Force? SEALs? Marine Force Recon? The SEALs stand out for me in terms of well-roundedness, but PJs are damn close.

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"We make a stand now or there will be nobody left to go to the choppa!" --Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer

Troynos, I've got a question for you, and it's really just a point of interest: why do you like the PJ's so much?

Now don't get me wrong, I think they're really tough and we could use a few on the Joe Team. I just know that you're making some customs because you feel so strongly about the Joes getting some PJ's. I think you once told us that your Grandfather was a Marine? Do you feel as strongly about the Joes needing more Marines? Just curious.

__________________
Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

Hey I can back the idea of needing some PJ's, my dad was in the Air Force as well as my grandfather back when it was still apart of the Army during WWII. But you know I back em all the more the merrier lol